Using an external hard drive with a Mac and a PC?

I have an external hard drive that I've used with my Windows PC/ itunes / music that I've copied to the PC. Can I use the external hard drive that I use with my Windows PC on my Mac/ itunes / music I've downloaded to my Mac?

wendybird wrote:
I also have a lot of pictures stored on the external hard drive that I can't lose.
(1) Any hard drive may fail at any moment. If you don't have a backup for this external hard drive, your pictures are half-gone already.
(2) If you're trying to make this drive a repository for your music and pics, then its best to format it as FAT32. That's the file system with the widest compatibility, and you'll be able to use the drive with Mac, Win, media players, even TVs with built-in media players. For practicality, it's probably best to keep it attached to a desktop machine and share it on your home LAN for all other devices.

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I am not able to use my external hard drive with my Mac.

I am not able to use my external hard drive with my Mac. It was initially used with my Windows 7 laptop. Now when I insert my Hard drive in the Mac, it doesn't allow me to delete, format, make folders or copy new files on to my hard drive. I no longer have a Windows PC and am stuck. I tried going to Disc utilities,selected my HD, clicked on Erase and then changed the Format type to MS-DOS (FAT) but no luck .. Any other steps or advice?

It was likely formatted in NTFS which is readable by the Mac, but not writeable.
You should be able to reformat the disk in Disk Utility.
After having copied all the data off of it, you can try re-partitioning it.
Select the hard drive in the disk list in Disk Utility. Hard drives are the device itself, are left-aligned in the list, and are usually named with the manufacturer, size, and model number.
Click on the Partition tab.
Select 1-partition from the partition menu.
Click the Options button and set to GUID
Set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Give the Volume a name and click Apply.

Using my external hard drive with my Mac?

I have a Maxtor external hard drive I used with my Dell. Can I use it with my Mac? Any worries about simply connecting it and seeing what will happen?

My best guess is it's formatted as NTFS, if that is the case OS X can read NTFS files but cannot write to a NTFS formatted drive. You can fix that by downloading NTFS-3G
OR
you can reformat the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in Disk Utility. If you are sharing this drive with a PC then I'd recommend the NTFS-3G option
if it's only to be used by the Mac then reformat it.
You can download NTFS-3G at: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/24481/ntfs-3g
To reformat here are instructions: http://www.ehow.com/how_2063795_format-hard-drive-mac-os.html

Using same external hard drive with two Macs

I use two Lacie external hard drives and Time Machine to back-up my iMac, swapping over the drives each week to have one off-site.
I am soon to buy a MacBook. Can I use the same external hard drives for the MacBook's Time Machine back-ups, whilst continuing to use them with the iMac, or will that cause problems?
Thank you.

As Kappy says, Time Machine will put both sets of backups in the same Backups.backupdb folder. That may not be a good idea for the future; your best bet may be to partition the drive.
See #4 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Using an external hard drive with my mac

My PC crashed last night (THANK GOD NOW I CAN GET A NEW DESKTOP MAC!!!) but I need to get some pictures off of my external hard drive. Can I just plug it up with my macbook and get them off? It is compatible with MAC. It's a Lacie. Thanks for any help.
Adrienne

What's the format of the drive? If it's FAT32 you should have no problem. If it's NTFS you probably can read it to get data off the drive (although I can't get my iBook G4 1.42 to mount them - MacBook does read-only with NTFS). The particular model and interface type of your LaCie drive could be helpful.
I had a LaCie d2 FireWire drive that crashed a few months after I got it. I then reformatted in FAT32 on my iBook and had ScanDisk quarantine bad sectors on a PC. It finally bit the dust and the PC would no longer mount the drive. My iBook was able to read it but took minutes to mount. I got the data to another drive and make sure to back up my important stuff to three different external drives.
Message was edited by: ypw

How can I use my external hard drive on my mac and a windows computer?

Hello,
Can anyone help...I have recently purchased a new external hard drive for my macbook pro, it is a 1TB hard drive. I use it for time machine back ups which only takes up about 250gb of space so obviously I have a lot more to use. I'm at University and the computers there are Windows so I'm hoping to be able to drag my uni work to my external HD and connect it to the windows computers at my university so that I have my work there as well - however I'm not sure how I should format my HD???
Thanks

You will eventually use all of that 1TB external for the Time Machine backups, that is if you do regular Time Machine backups (It is NOT a One Time thing). So using that same external for anything else is not a good idea.
You would be much better off buying a large USB thumb drive, like 64GBs in size, and format that to one of the Windows formates that both Mac OS X and Windows can read from and write to. Those would be FAT32 and exFAT. If you are moving file less than 4GBs in size then format it FAT32. You can then copy files to it from your Mac and Read those files on the Windows PCs the school has and just stick that Thumb drive in your pocket.

Using Seagate External Hard Drive with both PC and Mac

So I bought this hard drive knowing that it can be used back and forth between Macs and PCs. I currently have a PC, but it's pretty old and I figure I will be getting a Mac after it dies. But currently I want to use it to get files from a Mac computer and when I connect it, it says "read only". How do I configure it to be able to transfer files with a Mac?
Seagate - FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5TB External USB 2.0/3.0 Portable Hard Drive - Black

Here you go:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090913140023382
If you find my post useful or informative, please click the icon below with the plus sign and star to give kudos. Thank you!

Using an external hard-disk with both mac and XP

I would like to use an external USB hard-drive to use with both my XP desktop and Macbook. This is mainly to store photo's and music. Am I right in believing this is possible so long as I format the disk in FAT32 first. Is there a file size limitation?

Hi,
I was planning to buy the Western Digital 'My Passport Essential 160GB USB Portable Hard Drive'. If I formatted that as FAT32 - would that be ok. Also can I use it as my ITunes 'base'?
Yes and yes.
But be aware that you can encounter difficulties with USB-powered external HDs, since such drives generally need more power from the USB port than a Mac and/or PC usually can deliver.
My personal choice would be to get a power supply for the external HD.
Regards
Stefan

Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09? I have some questions.

Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09? I have some questions.

Are you actually having a problem with the new Lacie drive, or are you just asking is the Lacie drive somehow different from your old G-Drive?
From a connection standpoint, most Lacie desktop drives have both USB and FireWire connections, just like the G-Drives do. You would connect and use it the same as a G-Drive.
Regarding capturing to the external HD, if you are using a camcorder that has FireWire (iLink) connection, it is not advisable to have an external FireWire HD connected to your Mac at the same time as your camcorder; there are often communication conflicts between the camcorder and the hard drive if they are connected at the same time. The conflicts usually appear as either dropped frames or a complete freeze. This is more common with Canon miniDV camcorders but I have also seen this behavior with Sony miniDV camcorders. (The problem is the camcorder's FW implementation, not the hard drive.) The workaround is to capture to your Mac's internal HD and later copy the captured video to your external HD.

Using an external hard drive with Airport Extreme

I'd like to use an external hard drive to store movies and music through my Airport Extreme. The drive is connected to a powered usb hub which is connected to the Extreme. I can see the drive in Airport Utility but I can't figure out how to use it.

Hi,
I have just tried to set up an Airport Extreme with an external hard drive at home. I have 4 computers connected to the "network" - an iMac, a MacBookPro and 2 x windows machines. A printer is connected wirelessly to the two Macs.
I cannot find the hard drive - I have tried the steps mentioned by Bob Timmons Mar 17 2010, but the only things I see under "Shared" in Finder are the iMac and the printer - not the Airport Extreme (seems odd??), not the windows machines, and most importantly, not the hard drive connected to the USB port on the Airport Extreme.
I therefore expect that the iMac and printer are connected wirelessly and directly, rather than through my network (& I'm happy for the printer to be connected this way, but I do need the PCs and the hard drive all networked).
According to my network connection, (in top bar on the screen) I am definitely connected to the network - yet nothing else shows in finder??
I do, however, see the USB hard Drive when I go into Finder>Applications>Utilities>AirportUtility.app, under my Airport Extreme >Disks. I've also gone through all the set up procedures for "File Sharing."
I have read other posts about formatting the hard drive ether FAT32 or NFTS - is this something I now need to do?? If so, which one should I use, and once I do it, will I then see it?
Presumably, in order to format the Hard Drive, I will need to disconnect it from the Airport Extreme, and connect it directly to one of the Macs too?
My apologies for so many questions, but this is all very technical stuff for the non-techie layperson.
Many thanks for any help anyone can provide on one or more of the questions / issues.
Martin

Cannot access shared external hard drive with other mac accounts

I cannot access a shared external hard drive with other mac accounts (all accounts are on the same macbook Pro). The shared external drive is shared via time capsule and is connected (of course) in USB. I see well this external hard drive as a shared disk with my main account. Yes shared option has been activated with the Airport Utility .. but when I open other account these othe accounts can see the external drive but cannot access to its content that is flagged with a no way sign. Strangely enough when I close my main account and start opening a new session with one of the other account then fine I can access the external hard drive and its content .. BUT then it is from my main account than I cannot access its content the no way sign showing ..
Looks like only one account at a time can access the content of this SHARED external hard drive .. any one as an idea on how to really make it a shared hard drive so that all accounts on the same mac can also access it ? I am at my wit ends on this case. THANKS ..

Results of my enquiries at Apple Genius Bar .. the guys found the problem interesting. They've been unable to provide a fix neither to give any explanation as to the reason why. To be fair I was not much impressed by the technical level demonstrated ..
In the mean time I have found that if account no.1 can see the shared external drive content and in such case account no.2 (same Mac computer) cannot see its content (only the external HD with a no way sign) this account no.2 can UNMOUNT (by ejecting) this external HD from account 1 and then remount it (just clicking on the TC shared part in a finder window) and .. see and access its content ; whilst account no.1 cannot see its content anylonger. Unless it unmounts the shared external HD and remount it .. then account no.2 can see its content anylonger. This can goes on an on.
So eventually YES the TC can allow to share a USB external drive between several accounts and a same Mac .. BUT this require to unmount and remount EACH time the external drive is accessed from a "no.2 account". So OK to share files with seldom access but not practical in case of frequent access needed.
I just I have now to figure how iTunes can automatically unmount and remount a shared external HD when it needs to access one of this shared HD content from on time account no.1 and then next time from account no.2. May be I am asking too much ..

Can I use an external hard drive with my ipad 2

can I use an external hard drive with my ipad 2

There are WiFi enabled portable hard drives available that can stream media, such as music or video, to your iPad, but no external hard drive in the sense of how you would use one with a computer.

One Format External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...

I have Formatted my External HD Passport 500GB = (465.8) and split it in two partition Mac OS Extended (Journal = 232GB) and FAT32 (Ms-Dos-FAT = 232GB) and reformat to NTFS using Windows...
How to use one External HUD for your Mac and PC you have a PC and how to have two Partition in Mac OS Extended (Journal) and FAT (Ms-Dos-FAT)as you desire the size of your partition under application, Utilities and Disk Utility and covert the (FAT32) to (NTFS)using Windows Control Panel or just search by Start, search Computer Management or just right my Computer and format the second partition to (NTFS)
Tips for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) FAT32 vs NTFS, what works and don't work...
(1)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Partition can't be use in Windows to transfer files but NTFS Partition can be use in Mac by transferring file from Windows to Mac and NTFS support for files over 4G in size...
(2)FAT32 can be use in Mac and Windows but with a limitation that a file cannot be transferred to a FAT32 partition if the file is larger than 4GB such as a video file and FAT32 file system performs more slowly than NTFS...
(2)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) can be use in Windows when you Reformat your HD to HFS+ by third-party app such as http://www.macdrive.com/ MacDrive for $50.or http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ NTFS For Mac 6.0 for $30...
Reference link 1 External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...
http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/1-external-hard-drive-for-your- mac-and-pc
Best regards...
JamesUFOs...
http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesEBEs

I have many external drives I use between my MacBook Pro and my Windows PC's. I use a free NTFS driver for Mac OS-X to give me full read/write access to any NTFS formatted partitions when running Mac OS. I also use MediaFour's MacDrive v8 on some of my Windows PC's to access any HFS+ formatted partitions.
Most of my drives are formatted NTFS because I have more Windows machines than I have MacDrive licenses, and with the driver for Mac OS, they are fully accessible. I have a few drives I do keep formatted as HFS+ because I have encountered an app or two that don't work quite right when they don't get to write to files on an HFS+ partition (one of my backup programs is picky about this).
As said before, FAT32 is fully accessible between the two OS'es but it also has it's own limitations.

Can I use an NTFS external hard drive with my mac?

I am running version 10.6.8 and the operating software is Snow Leapord. I want to upgrade to Lion but firstly I want to back-up my files just incase s*** happens. I've bought a used 500gb external hard drive and I understand it's in the NTFS (Windows NT File System) format. Although I am able to view what's on the hard drive as well as use it, for example, open photos, watch movies, I cannot delete anything on it. I could get a mac compatible hard drive but that's going to be at an extra cost! Any help much appreciated.

You can format it for Mac compatibility with Disk Utility. However, you will likely lose your files. Here's the options you have:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003

External hard drive for my Mac and PC

I recently bought a 15in MBP. I have been using an external hard drive to store my music using a PC's itunes. When I connected it to my MBP it didnt recognize it. So i put everything back on to my PC, and used the now empty hard drive as the device for my Time Machine. No when I connect the external hard drive to the PC, it doesnt recognize it. So now I cant transfer my music back onto my external hard drive and use it with my MBP. I need help!!!
Will I have to buy an all new external hard drive to put my music on and then use it for my MBP? Do I have to buy a specific brand and will it have to be formateed for Mac initially. If so, will it work on a PC? I just need advice.

For both the PC and Mac to recognise the hard drive, it has to be formatted as FAT or FAT32. Macs can read, but not write NTFS drives (which is the standard format for PC/Windows Vista/7); Windows can't read or write Mac OS formatted drives (which is what Time Machine requires)
Empty the drive, and reformat it in Windows as FAT32. There are some limitations: FAT32 won't allow an individual file large than 2GB, which may a problem if you store full movies in iTunes. But it will work.
If you're not happy to do that, there is software such as Macdrive for Windows that illl allow Win machines to deal with Mac formatted drives. I guess there are equivalents for the Mac to write to NTFS too

Using an external hard drive with a Mac and a PC?

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